Raising your child to be different

I once read on a homeschooling site that no matter how accomplished or smart or well-behaved your homeschooled child will turn out he will always be different. It was meant kind of a warning, I guess, but thinking about it - is being different such a bad thing?

The first answer that comes to mind is 'No, why would it be bad?' Because we like to think that we live in a world that encourages diversity, a world in which you can be whoever you want. Yet, how many of us dare to really be different, how many of us dare to deviate from the norm? And public school is the first place today's children learn social conformity.
Sure, at first it's the rather innocent absolute need to have the latest toys and sooner or later most parents give in and buy the damn fidget spinner or whatever it is. (My son has three of them and he doesn't even go to school!) As the kids grow up, the need to be part of the crowd becomes even more powerful. They all dress the same, listen to the same music, watch the same movies. It might seem natural, a younger generation that develpos its own tastes and culture. I don't have a problem with kids wanting to be different from their parents, because that's normal and change is necessary if society is to evolve. What bothers me is the "we" mentality. "We" like this, "we" don't like that. Try telling a teenager that she is beautiful with her short curly hair when all her long-haired peers post hundreds of pouting, bitchy selfies everyday and gather tons of likes! Try telling your young son that it's ok to be fascinated by medieval knigts when all his friends care about are comics! The school environment is the perfect ground for breeding social conformity.
By the time they graduate, most kids acquire the same set of values and beliefs. Even those that have different opinions learn that it is better to keep them for themselves. Now they are all ready to go out in the big world, becoming like-minded adults or at least pretending to be.
Funny thing - only a few decades ago you could at least feel free in the privacy of your own home. No matter how you were made to behave in school or at work, at home you could be yourself. Well, not anymore! Because even at home, you still need to be on social media, post something to Facebook or Instagram and "like" whatever nonsense your friends are posting.
So, yes, I would like my kids to grow up to be different. Question is - Will they thank me for that?